As a Trinidad-born Jamaican, the latest blow-up between Jamaican travellers and Trinidadian immigration officers has caused a lot of pain in my heart.

My family ties run equally deep in both countries and I love each nation equally, so when they go to ‘war’, it is always difficult to deal with. I totally disagree with the treatment meted out to Jamaican travellers since I believe that no one has a right to treat their fellow-human beings in any way less than they would treat their own family members.

This behaviour by the T&T immigration officials and the failure of Caribbean Airlines to provide proper accommodations for their passengers who have been turned back by immigration should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. However, what causes more pain in my heart is the reality that many Jamaicans, among whom I work and live, are indeed looking to grab the first opportunity to live somewhere else other than Jamaica.

In fact, some people believe that there are more Jamaicans abroad than those who are actually living on the island. International immigration authorities are aware of the high number of Jamaicans who are trying to migrate so at most international gateways, once we Jamaicans arrive, in most instances, there will likely be issues.

I know this because I travel with a Jamaican passport as well. To me, the real issue here, which requires our attention and energy, is this reality. Many Jamaicans no longer want to live here because of increasing crime, violence, lack of economic opportunities and the high cost of quality education. In my field, I am required to do a massive amount of work with young people and it is very difficult to find a youth who is motivated by a Jamaican dream.

Almost all of the young people with whom I interact have a real desire to migrate and live somewhere else. A 2016 survey commissioned by Respect Jamaica and the local office of UNICEF shows that 81 per cent of Jamaica’s youth between 14 and 40 years of age would leave the country immediately if they could. Education and job opportunities are the chief reasons cited by the young people for wanting to leave.

If 81 per cent of our young people no longer want to live in Jamaica, then we have a bigger problem than the behaviour of a few possibly racist Trinidadian immigration officials to sort out. In the same way that my home must be the most welcoming home that my children have access to, we have to find a way to make Jamaica the most desired and welcoming place of abode for all Jamaicans.

Until this is done, then the vast majority of our people will always be trying to find a way to make a living in other people’s countries. Jamaica should be, at the least, a reasonable option for any Jamaican to live his or her dream. As far as an overwhelming number of Jamaicans are concerned, this is currently not the case.

When I was a boy, I reared chickens. One thing I learnt very quickly was that once you feed your own chickens regularly and properly, they will never leave the yard. In fact, other people’s chickens often took up abode in my yard among my chickens. Too many of Jamaica’s chickens are flying away and trying to jump other people’s fences because of the lack of care back home.

The estimate of 20,000 Jamaicans living illegally in Trinidad is an embarrassment.

Other nations are now closing their borders to us. This means that once the options for Jamaican migration are shut down, then the next issue will be massive and severe social unrest.

I would like to challenge the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association, who are driving the call to boycott Trinidadian goods, what is your motivation for such a proposal? Is it really a deep love and concern for ordinary Jamaican people, or is the issue really the pressure from the competition provided by your very ambitious Trinidadian counterparts? So far, not one of you have raised your voice in protest over the recent treatment meted out to cricketer Franklin Rose by the New Zealand immigration authorities. Should you not be consistent?

I am proposing that we focus our energies on the real problem. Let’s fix Jamaica. Allow righteous and mature leadership the space to lead and we can overcome many of the challenges that we face as a nation. Launching economic war on our Caribbean neighbours is not the way to go and can only be described as petty and bad-minded leadership and will not contribute to fixing Jamaica.